The Zebulon Police Department has launched a new initiative aimed at addressing youth trauma in the town. The CARE (Community Advocacy & Resource Enhancement) Unit is made up of two social workers who will provide resources as well as additional support to help children navigate traumatic incidents.
Officials said the program was needed after collecting data and getting feedback from a community survey. When a 911 call is made, police will arrive on the scene and if there is a child, the police will request a person from the CARE Unit to assist.
Detective Kerry Burke, the lead on the effort, said the child can be a victim, witness or offender.
“It is for all children,” Burke said. “It's not just for one group, really any traumatic incident that they can experience, that could be witnessing people fighting and then once they get that referral, the social workers will contact their guardian or parent.”
Burke said from that point, the social worker works with the parents and child to mitigate the situation.
“It’s aimed at short term intervention and also long term,” she said. “We want to immediately make contact with the kid and the family to mitigate those trauma symptoms and it also works over time and long term. So, that the child and the family are better prepared in the future to deal with traumatic incidents, that way it doesn't affect them as badly in the future.”
The CARE Unit is funded through a $5,000 grant from New Blue, which helps police officers create various projects for their communities. It was launched earlier this month.
